Italian Bread

There’s a special place in my heart for Italian bread. My grandpa owned a bakery in Queens when I was growing up, and we always got the most amazing bread from there. While this recipe isn’t exactly how his bread tasted, it definitely comes close, and it will remind you of the Italian bread you get in a small Italian joint on Long Island that you smear with a pat of butter fresh out of its little tin foil wrapper. As my dad says, “mange abbondanza”.

Recipe Adapted by adding some more detail in the instructions from: King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

4 cups (482g) of All Purpose Flour

2 tbl (21g) potato flour or 1/4 cup (21g) dried potato flakes

1/4 cup 35g Bakers Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk

2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp instant yeast

1 1/3 cups (301g) lukewarm water (98-105F)

3 tbl olive oil

Topping:

1 egg white, beaten with 1 tbl water

sesame seeds

In a large bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients to combine. Add in the water and olive oil and stir with your hands or a spatula until a dough forms. Tip out onto the counter or kneading mat and knead for 5-8 minutes until smooth and elastic. To tell if it’s elastic, or that enough gluten has been developed, pinch a piece of dough off and gently stretch it thinly, about 2 inches, you should be able to see the light through it (windowpane test).

Shape dough into a ball by stretching the dough around itself and pinching it underneath, and place in a lightly greased bowl covered with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface and gently deflate by folding it over onto itself a few times. Divide the dough evenly into 2 pieces. Shape each piece into a 16 inch log (see shaping tips below). Place each log on a parchment lined sheet pan and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Halfway through the rise, preheat your oven to 400F, and if you like a crispy crust, place a cast iron skillet on the bottom rack while preheating (or skip the cast iron and get a spray bottle filled with water ready).

Once risen, brush with the egg wash (or milk) and then sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. Slash the logs 3 times diagonally down the loaves and then spray the loaves with water (or after you place the loaves into the oven, pour 1 cup of water into the cast iron skillet). Place immediately into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until dark golden and an internal temp of 190F or above.

You can let them cool on a rack, or for a crispier crust, turn off the oven and let them cool inside with the oven door slightly cracked

Shaping the dough:

Working with one piece at a time, flatten the dough into a rough rectangle shape. Take the top of the dough and fold it down a third of the way, then take the bottom part of the dough and fold it over onto that pressing to seal. (like a letter fold) Then take the top part of the dough again folding it down half of the way, then folding it again almost all the way to the bottom pressing to seal. Roll the log gently and evenly until you reach 16 inches long.